Standing tall at the pinnacle of the tower of Sierra Palms Hotel Complex, hoovered by the glittering wave of the shinny Atlantic Ocean that kisses the Aberdeen Beach resort, characterized by passion to speak on behalf of his people, the Parliamentary Mines Committee Chairman Honorable Saa Emerson Lamina, has urged the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Country Planning to present a bill to the House of Parliament that is people-centered and one that can only alleviate poverty and not otherwise.
He cited instances where bad laws have become the only disempowment tool against local Sierra Leoneans. He mentioned the insignificant amount that most companies pay to communities for annual use of their land and said that such pittances can only further exacerbate poetry and widen the foreign exchange gap between Sierra Leone and the West.
He discredited that sub national payments for land use to some community leaders are not redistributed fairly, mentioning many flaws in the existing, obsolete and antiquated colonial ordinances whose review and possible expungement, he said are far over due.
He emphasized on the need to make women benefit equally as their male counterparts from the profits of the natural resources. He sympathized with the youth who he said, could be gainfully employed by mining companies, but do not get those deserving employment because investment companies don’t make frantic efforts to invest in local skills development.
Calling on the government, he urged the Law Officers Department to take legislative reform process as key and important step towards the urgently needed socioeconomic transformation needed in the Country. He said, as the legislative arms of the State, they as MPs can only have a say when a bill is tabled before them, otherwise their powers cannot interfere with the work of the judiciary.
Before taking his seat, he assured the Ministry of Lands, FAO and its CSOs partners of his committee’s undivided commitment to the legal reform process undertaken by the Technical Working Group of the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forestry (TWG) VGGT).
He commended the Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency (SLIEPA) for their initiative in development a one-stop-shop for Agribusiness Approval Process (AIAP).
